Faded

Chapter 1: Black and White

Julian's POV

I'm nervous. The ceremony is tonight. The one where one hundred, eighteen year olds find soulmates in each other. I stride down the hallway, nodding to the people that are waving. I head to my locker.

"Hey," Riley says to me.
"Hi."
"What's up?"
"Nothing."
She says, "What's wrong?"

There is nothing wrong. I am nervous. Like I said before, we were allowed to date before our Soulmate Ceremony but we can't date on the day of the Soulmate Ceremony.
"Look, Riley I like you a lot. You know that. But our Soulmate Ceremony is tonight and we are not allowed to date during that."
"Oh, no. The breakup session."
"It's okay. We might be soulmates anyways."
"Yeah, hopefully."

The Soulmate Ceremony is about seeing color for the first time. For eighteen years, we see nothing other than black and white. The first time we see color is in our soulmates. First, we see the color of their eyes, then their hair and so on. I only know this because my parents tell me about their Soulmate Ceremony all the time. My parents, Neil and Vanessa are forty three and their occupations are the best in our community. My mother works as a model and as an actress and, my father is a doctor at the local hospital. Apparently, my mother has black hair, brown eyes and has mid toned skin. My favorite part about it though, is that as soon as I see Her ( THE GIRL ) my whole world would transform to color. But the first thing that I would see for a year would be my soulmate. The one that I'm supposed to spend my life with. I am so nervous.
"Hey, Julian," Peyton says.

Peyton Hall. Popular, smart and my best friend.
"Hey, Pey. What's up?"
"Oh my goodness!! You are so nervous!"
"What? Pfft, no! I'm fine! You're the one that's nervous."
"Julian, don't lie to me "
"I'm not "
"Sure," She says.
Peyton is awesome. She is a great friend and respects my decisions.
Adam Price comes in and puts his arm around Peyton.
"Hey, babe," He says.
"Hey, Adam," She said.
They kissed and I made a gagging noise.
"Julian!" Peyton yelled.
"Couldn't help it, Pey."
Adam sent me the death stare.
Nice to be noticed, I thought.
I closed my locker and said goodbye to Peyton and reluctantly clapped my hand on his shoulder.
I headed to my science class.
Behind me, I heard Adam say, "Peyton, I am just going to see Julian and see what he thinks of my tie for the Soulmate Ceremony."
I spun around and saw Peyton turning the corner. Adam came next to me as I turned back around. He matched my pace. Adam suddenly pushed me against the wall and pinned me.
"What the hell do you want from me, man?" I said.
"I want Peyton to be happy," He said.
"She is happy, or at least around me she is," I said.
"Plus, Adam, I can see how she would be unhappy with you," I added with a snarl.
"What?" He asked, stunned.
"Everyone knows that you had a fling with a girl while you were on vacation in New York. I even called the number that everyone was saying that the girl's number was. She answered. I described you and she said that she missed you and that she thought you were a good kisser," I said.
"Then why don't you tell her?"
"Because, I care about her. But I'm starting to rethink my decision. If she really wanted to dump you, even if you were her supposed Soulmate, she could still complain to the Government," I said.
Adam looked around the dark corner and saw big eyes in the darkness staring at us. Peyton had seen everything.

Now, before we get into the details about what happened, I need to explain everything to you. Tonight was the Soulmate Ceremony. The first time that we ever see colour. First we see it in our Soulmates and then it slowly expands to other people. My mom says that I have black hair, blue eyes and mid toned skin. I am six foot two. Apparently, I am good looking. That, I believe. Riley and I met at a charity that we were both giving to. The pigs were going extinct and I thought that I could at least donate five dollars. Riley donated forty. She was nice and smart. I thought she was perfect, I still think that she is.
When I see Peyton run away, I curse under my breath. There were tears streaking her face when she left. I punched Adam in the face. He yelped in pain. I jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow. He doubled over, clutching his stomach. I pushed him away and ran down the hall. I saw Peyton huddled in the corner, tears streaming down her face.
"I was so s-st-stupid," She cried in between sobs.
"No, you weren't. He acted like a nice guy. It's okay."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to get hurt."
"Well, fine job you did," She said.
"I am sorry."
"It's not your fault. I don't know why I blamed you in the first place."
"It's okay," I said.
I sat beside her and held her. I stroked her hair while she cried into my shoulder.
"Ugh, did you at least punch Adam?"
"Yep, and I elbowed him in the stomach. I also pushed him."
"Good. I'm so proud of you," She said, as she ruffled my hair playfully.
I leaned over and cupped her cheek with my hand. She leaned into me. Okay, I think that you know what's going to happen here, but I will still go on about it. I kissed her. First, it was soft and gentle but then it changed to fierce and passionate. Adam came into the room just as we had separated.
"I see that you had no trouble moving on, Peyton?"
"No, not at all. You didn't seem to have any trouble kissing another woman when we were in a relationship."
"Yes, but I didn't kiss somebody else's woman," He said, nodding towards me.
He left us in silence.
I laugh and shake my head, looking down.